Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria

The Armed Forces of the Chechen Republic of Ichkeria is the military wing of the government in exile of the ChRI.

The ChRI — and thus its Armed Forces — claims to be a direct descendant of the separatist forces that fought two wars with Russia. However, in reality, much of the North Caucasus insurgency Islamised and radicalised and the ChRI was formally abolished with the creation of the Caucasus Emirate in 2007.

In its current form, the Armed Forces — in the form of the Detached Special Purpose Battalion — were recreated in July 2022 in order to participate in Russia’s war on Ukraine on Ukraine’s side. It also participates more directly, through the activities of the ChRI Deputy Commander-in-Chief Rustam Azhiyev, although it is unclear how many troops are under his command versus also part of OBON.